The present invention relates to vehicle safety systems and more specifically to an apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during abnormal operating conditions.
Various safety systems are used to protect occupants of vehicles. For example, seat belt and airbag systems may be used to protect vehicle occupants. In the case of a lift truck, one suitable seat belt system, for example, might comprise an automatic locking retractor and a belt buckle assembly as described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,410 to Bougher, the disclosure of which is now incorporated herein by reference. Lift trucks may also be equipped with a Falling Object Protection System (FOPS), which comprises a sectioned roof resting on side supports, thereby creating a cab or cockpit in which the occupant is generally protected from falling objects. It has been found that during lift truck tip-over conditions, an occupant may try to exit the cockpit of the vehicle, or may be ejected from the cockpit, prior to completion of the tip over. What is desired is a safety system that blocks the exit pathway and contains the occupant substantially within the cab of the lift truck or other vehicle.
A vehicle safety system for impeding the egress of an occupant of a vehicle is provided. Such a vehicle safety system comprises one or more safety barriers mounted to one or more exits and configured to move between a stowed position, allowing an occupant to egress the vehicle through the one or more exits, and a deployed position. In the deployed position, the barrier(s) cover at least a portion of the exit(s) to impede occupant egress through the exit(s). One such safety barrier might be a passive barrier such as a net, or plastic sheet. Such a passive barrier affords the occupant the visibility necessary to operate the vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle may be operated with the passive barrier in the deployed position continuously. The vehicle may be equipped with a FOPS or other frame that defines the exit(s) in order to mount and/or guide the passive barrier as it is moved between the stowed positions and the deployed positions. The passive safety barrier may be deployed, moved from the stowed to the deployed position, and/or stowed, moved from the deployed to the stowed position, manually by the occupant. The occupant may manually deploy or stow the safety barrier by applying direct pressure to the passive safety barrier to move it. The occupant may also actuate one or more mechanical devises, such as for example a motor or hand crank or other devices described herein or known in the art, to deploy or stow the safety barrier. The safety system may further comprise a control system configured to sense one or more parameters or the occurrence of one or more defined events in order to automatically deploy or stow the passive barrier. Automatic deployment or stowing of the passive barrier may also be realized by other mechanical devices, such as for example a retractor biased to stow or deploy the safety barrier. The safety system may be equipped with one or more locking mechanisms to lock the passive safety barrier in the deployed position. These locking mechanisms may be any suitable mechanical, electrical, or electro-mechanical device, some representative examples of which are described herein below. The locking mechanisms may manually be actuated by the occupant, or automatically actuated by the control system. In the alternative, the safety barrier may be a reactive safety barrier, such as for example, an inflatable member. The inflatable member may be a tube, or a curtain comprising generally vertical and generally horizontal bladders, or a combination of a tube and a curtain. The reactive safety member also has stowed and deployed positions. The reactive safety member may be deployed manually by the occupant, for example, by pushing a button or actuating a switch, or automatically by the control system. The illustrative inflatable safety member(s) are deployed by filling them with fluid in order to inflate them, thereby causing them to cover at least a portion of the exit(s) to impede egress through the exit. The construction of the inflatable safety barriers may allow for the retention of the fluid for a desired length of time. The reactive safety barriers may be combined with each other and/or with a passive safety barrier. So too, reactive and/or passive safety barriers may be installed, alone or in combination, on any one, or every exit of the vehicle. The features of the safety barriers described herein may be used alone or in combination.
Features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.